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Matt Hancock leaked WhatsApp messages: Isabel Oakeshott interview; ENGLAND: London: Westminster: INT Isabel Oakeshott (Journalist) interview SOT. - Q - What these messages show? A - Extraordinary high-handedness that those charged with the Covid-19 pandemic response treated people who were trying to go about their way of life...the govt was very quick to harbour the full machinery of the state to criminalise completely every day activities... I don't think those restrictions were ever justified. They were the tip of the iceberg but never again should our civil liberties be taken away in this brutal form while politicians laughed and sneered... Q - This wasn't China or North Korea... A - Wasn't it? It's what we quickly turned into...tactics imposed in early stages...are straight out of the playbook of the communist party... Q - Early days when people weren't sure though? A- Absolutely...I didn't criticise the first lockdown...disease spreading we know likely to kill people it was right to take measures urgently so we could find out what the scientists were telling us...this public enquiry has no deadline. ..lifetime's work for many experts...we need what Starmer called for in PMQs...a public enquiry with a realistic remit...of key questions we need answering... Q - Whatsapp messages not thought out policy... A - They often led to policy decisions that were implemented within seconds of being sent. Q - You have an agenda? A - 2.3 million words of policy making and discussions...Telegraph does not over claim these messages...the public enquiry is a lovely idea but no good to us if there is no deadline Q - It's going to start in a few months.... A - It's already been years since the start of the pandemic...hasn't started taking formal evidence...we are going to be waiting years and we shouldn't.